You could have knocked me over with a feather when Cathy called me on Friday to tell me that the doctor's office called her to say that MY surgery had been scheduled for (get this) MONDAY, DEC 31st, at 8 AM.
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| Christmas at the North Texas Apocalypse Bunker. Happy despite our Year's Worth of Woes. XOXOX! |
But that's not important right now. And I don't wish to seem ungrateful. I am reeling, to be honest. I spent most of November gearing myself up mentally for this double-decker two-in-one surgery, only to have the rug pulled out from under me two days before it was supposed to happen. And right after that, Cathy got sick with pneumonia. So I've not been able to much of anything except call for updates between dealing with Cathy's slowly-improving health crisis.
Now I'm getting it. And my head is not where it needs to be. I'm a little panicked, and I suspect I'll spend most of Sunday in a meditative state to get ready for this. The stress of the hospital and surgery takes a toll on me and I need to be in my best place to get through it quickly and heal speedily. I can't be out for too long. Cathy is still on oxygen. We're about to be a pair of shut-ins.
I know, that sounds bad, but my recovery is supposed to take 10 days. Two weeks at the outside. I can deal with that. I can. I think I'm going to binge-watch the first ten years of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
When I started this year, it was with one goal; to get my personal health back on track. I had no other agenda. And while it took the ENTIRE year--right up to the last day of it!--the last thing on my Phase 1 to-do list is getting checked off. It's the principle of the thing, sure, but I did it. I'm very proud of myself for completing phase 1.
But wait! There's More!
Cathy went to see the Oncologist this week, expecting to get more chemo. He informed her that she's already had six sessions, and so now it was time to start planning her surgery. We were stunned. It's finally moving forward, this plan we had back in October of this year. Of course, her surgery is dependent on her blood clot, but they took an ultrasound of it, and so we'll know more next week. But for now, at least for now, she's done with chemo until they do surgery. Her last CT scan was good; the tumors continue to shrink. With as much chemo as she's had, I'm surprised they are not microscopic at this point.
Now all Cathy has to do is finish kicking this pneumonia to the curb. She's getting a little stronger every day. Her oxygen levels are up to 88 percent. When she crosses into the 90s she can come off of the tank. So, we're close.
Her surgery is likely going to be sometime in February, assuming all is well with the clot. By then I'll have healed up completely and be well into Phase 2. Cathy will join me there when she's healed up. We are not out of the woods yet. But we can see where the edge of the forest is.
I hate to keep mentioning it, but here's the link to our GoFundMe page. We are halfway to our goal. So many of our friends and fans and family and even total strangers have donated that I feel like a jerko for even bringing it up. But this is where the costs will skyrocket, as our deductible resets and we are back on the hook again for all of the visits and procedures.
Blah. Enough of that. Cathy and I are grateful and lucky and blessed and humbled to know you. It's been a shit-tastic year. But next year will be better. You just wait and see if it isn't. We wish you a safe and happy and healthy 2019, full of love and laughter.
